Blogs

How Technology is Changing Law Enforcement

Technology
• December 8, 2015
• by Patrick J. Solar

When I started my career in law enforcement nearly 35 years ago, the only "technology" we needed was the police radio and the location of the nearest pay phone. Today police radios scan 30 channels and officers typically have in-car video cameras, traffic monitoring radar units, in-car computer data terminals with Internet access, body cameras, a department-issued cellphones and, of course, personal cellphones. With all this technology in the cruisers it’s a wonder we don't have more officer-involved crashes than we do.

Advances in technology have been a mixed blessing for contemporary law enforcement agencies. Take the explosive spread of Internet access over the last two decades, for example. On one hand, everyday technologies like social media and other applications are a boon to law enforcement but they have also made it possible for gangs and even terrorist organizations to coordinate like never before, creating an entirely new digital space that needs policing.

Social media is far from the only technology that’s drawn concern from police. Many in the law enforcement community have particularly cited a mobile app called Waze, a traffic-tracking tool that displays the current location of police officers, as potentially allowing those with criminal intent to avoid or seek out and harm law enforcement personnel.

While this certainly complicates the work of keeping the public safe, criminals using the Internet, whatever they use it for, often leave a trail behind. With the proper knowledge and tools on their side, law enforcement technicians can use this expansive channel of communication against potential or suspected criminal offenders. The Internet has become a broad web of shared personal information that remains permissible as evidence when attained legally, creating an organic database of recorded behaviors that can provide unique insight into each case. When analyzed, this data can even be useful in identifying criminal patterns and anticipating threats.

Police are being tasked with increasingly complicated challenges as the state of technology evolves, but today’s most effective agencies aren’t exactly lacking in technical muscle. The same rapid expansion of technology forcing quick adaptation on the part of police has set the stage for exciting, innovative tools that help officers serve their communities.

Law enforcement agencies around the country have recognized the value of these tools, using them to meet the shifting demands of police work. Some are still relatively untested, others are controversial, but each new armament in the fight against crime has the potential to radically alter the way law enforcement operates.

3D Crime Scene Imaging

The methods that analysts use to dissect every facet of a crime scene have fascinated the public in recent years, which is understandable with how far the field has come. 3D scanning technology, like some of the solutions offered by Faro, certainly seems like something straight out of science fiction. These devices take a three-dimensional scan of an entire crime scene, replacing many sketches and photographs..

Through-the-Wall Radar

The emergence of new radar technology that uses radio waves to detect movement through walls caused quite a stir when it was brought to public attention several months ago. The controversy is understandable, as concern over privacy rights continues to rise, and the technology does pose some difficult questions relative to the Fourth Amendment. However, this technology isn’t actually new, and has been used by nearly 50 law enforcement agencies in the U.S. to mitigate the dangers of entering buildings that house criminal activity. Using the L-3 CyTerra Range-R, which is sensitive enough to measure even the slightest movement, officers can gain a complete picture of what threats they’ll face, which is critical information to the success and safety of a breach.

Body-Worn Cameras

The national call for officers to wear cameras has been heard loud and clear by many police agencies. Recently, the city of Detroit announced that all police officers would soon be outfitted with body cameras, and numerous others agencies have done the same. These cameras, which are now small enough to be mounted on an officer’s uniform or on a pair of glasses do far more than just promote public trust and accountability in the age of viral videos and demands for transparency. Though some members of the law enforcement community have raised concerns over the use of the cameras, they can actually provide a helpful resource to police departments and protect officers from an increasing abundance of false claims of inappropriate behavior or abuse.

Every second of video that an officer’s camera records can be taken into evidence, providing a first-hand account of what took place during any interaction with a subject. The cameras provide the officer’s perspective on the incident unfettered by testimony and witness reports. Beyond that, departments can use the footage to train and practice crisis scenarios, reviewing successful arrests and discovering areas for improvement. Community members and law enforcement officers alike can benefit from police cameras seeing more frequent use.

Predictive Analytics

Criminal elements may have gained a powerful tool in the Internet, but so have law enforcement agencies, with more data available than ever before. Using software dedicated to providing insight into criminal patterns and all legally warranted personal information, analysts are able to recognize connections between various activities and cases, even potentially predict where the next threat will emerge. These systems draw from a number of databases simultaneously, which helps law enforcement analyze information coming from mobile telephone service providers, banks, credit card companies, and many other public forms of data. Once all of the relevant information is gathered, new tools like these allow agencies to share their findings with others around the nation.

Technology

"Officers are safer if we can get them out of their field software as fast as possible," Seoane adds. He explains that if officers are not looking at their screens, their situational awareness is enhanced. And the public is safer if officers and other public safety professionals can respond more quickly.

The use of an IP/MPLS network, complemented with SDN technology, will give public safety organizations the flexibility they need to adapt their network to almost any situation, and focus their attention and efforts where they are most needed.

In two days, the Los Angeles Rams will square off in Atlanta against the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LIII. Verizon has worked for two years to ensure that communications capabilities for the millions of people in that city—as well as the myriad public safety entities standing watch over the event—remain available at all times.

IDentify optimizes workflows for investigative teams. Teams can seamlessly manage and track case evidence associated with an investigation from one centralized location and apply status labels related to such evidence such as active, closed, or archived. Notes and case details such as case ID, department, officer ID, case description, location, and time, can be added to the case in IDentify.

Disruptive technologies present challenges for everyone — police administrators included. But such technologies also carry significant benefits not only for police, but for the citizens they are sworn to protect.

As a technologist, it’s my opinion that agencies will soon be able to receive much more tactical/situational information from all active incidents, including verbal transmissions, without ever touching a communications device.

Oakland PD was an early advocate of Vievu body camera technology and has been using the company's products since 2010. The department currently has 775 cameras; most of them the Vievu LE3 model. Now the department is moving to upgrade all of its officers' cameras to the latest Vievu model, the LE5.

The traditional gelatin-silver image reproduction film process was a very stable imaging platform with reliable, repeatable characteristics; lighting was also more consistent. In digital photography, we have to contend with many more variables and different elements involved in producing the final image.

The emergence of simultaneous LMR and LTE capabilities, along with PTT apps on smartphones, tablets and WiFi-only devices, opens up a world of potential new products such as more robust phones for industrial use, dual- or triple-band radios with LTE phones built inside, possibly even with a USB port on the side for uploading data.

IBM i2 Coplink uses sophisticated analytics and "fuzzy" searches to allow investigators to discover hidden relationships and patterns that can be used to solve crimes. Geospatial mapping features in the software can quickly create maps, highlighting types of incidents such as arson, burglaries, or prowling by specific dates or times of day, and location.

Through its bait program using Assisted Patrol-equipped devices, Dayton arrested and convicted four individuals who had been arrested for a total of 45 felonies and theft from automobiles in the downtown precinct decreased by 80%for over one year. These results were achieved without stakeouts and with no overtime expenses.

Pulling data from law enforcement records can be difficult, which is why an analytics software platform could be key to promoting relationships with the community. With a map-based tool, agencies can analyze their crime and calls-for-service data to create geographical profiles to see where crimes are being committed and reported. With these profiles, agencies can better see where officers need to be more visible and to interact with the community as a crime prevention tactic.